A Somali asylum seeker has set herself on fire at Australia’s immigration detention centre on the island of Nauru
Australia’s department of immigration and border protection confirmed the incident to BuzzFeed News on Monday night.
Refugee advocates say the woman is badly injured, and that all of her clothes were burned off.
Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the woman, named as Hadon, had been in Australia recently for treatment to a serious head injury but was suddenly taken back to Nauru late last week.
The woman is being treated at the Republic of Nauru hospital by four emergency doctors from Australia including two anesthetists, the Nauruan government confirmed. She is expected to be evacuated from the island.
The Nauruan government used the incident to lash out at detainees who self harm, saying they do so for political reasons.
“Refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru enjoy the same freedoms on Nauru as local Nauruan citizens, but have better facilities. Refugees and asylum seekers are not distressed due to their conditions. Their conditions are better than most other refugee camps across the world.
“This has been confirmed by almost every major refugee group in the world.”
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre chief executive Kon Karapanagiotidis condemned the government and Labor, who both support the policy of mandatory off-shore detention, following the incident.